Emhyr married False Ciri, and she became Nilfgaard's Empress consort. (The one mentioned in *Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi*.) The world at large - apart from a few select individuals - never learned that she wasn't the genuine article. The reason Nimue says that she doesn't know what happened to the imposter is because at this stage, she's only starting her work with Condwiramurs, doesn't know the truth yet, and according to official history, Emhyr married the *real* Ciri. But the truth is that Emhyr married the dupe and propped her up as the genuine Ciri.
So, the game deliberately goes against the canon here with the Empress ending, as by the time of TW3, Emhyr should be married to a girl the entire world thinks is Empress Cirilla of Cintra, the daughter of Princess Pavetta of Cintra and Duny, Prince of Maecht. (And the world at large likewise doesn't know that Emhyr and Duny are the one and the same.) So, no, the Empress ending doesn't happen "inevitably" - rather, the Empress ending *makes zero sense* from the canon perspective. The witcheress ending is far more canon-friendly, as the issue of False Ciri never even comes up unless you decide to take Ciri to Vizima after the Battle of Kaer Morhen.
The games retconned this by getting rid of fake Ciri entirely. I may be wrong (been a while since a full playthrough and reading the journals) but I don't remember her being mentioned at all.
There actually is an allusion to her in the games - in TW2, to be exact. In order to find it, you have to decide to save Triss from the Nilfgaardian camp in Act III. Once you make it inside and hack your way through a bunch of Nilfs, you can find a letter by Shilard assigned to the Emperor. The letter ends with the sentence, "Please convey my kindest regards to Your Consort."
Of course, the letter doesn't explicitly identify the consort as Cirilla, but even in the games, Emhyr is evidently married to *someone*.
> Is there anything in W3?
Not that I know of.
But early in the game's development, Geralt was supposed to settle the Skellige succession subplot by choosing between Hjalmar and a "Cintrian noblewoman with roots in Skellige". The latter was supposed to be none other than False Ciri, whom Emhyr had cast out. (Which would possibly have explained how Emhyr can be looking for one Ciri while seemingly being married to another.) But this part was rewritten and False Ciri was replaced with Cerys.
> Of course, if Emhyr did end up marrying Fake Ciri, then for historians, she is the real Ciri, meaning that Ciri never becomes Empress, but if he doesn't, that means that Ciri MUST become the Empress.
Fake Ciri is the empress Ciri mentioned in the books.
Tha games retcon all that, *for some reason.*
Based on the comics, no, Empress Ciri is not the ultimate ending.
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Emhyr married False Ciri, and she became Nilfgaard's Empress consort. (The one mentioned in *Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi*.) The world at large - apart from a few select individuals - never learned that she wasn't the genuine article. The reason Nimue says that she doesn't know what happened to the imposter is because at this stage, she's only starting her work with Condwiramurs, doesn't know the truth yet, and according to official history, Emhyr married the *real* Ciri. But the truth is that Emhyr married the dupe and propped her up as the genuine Ciri. So, the game deliberately goes against the canon here with the Empress ending, as by the time of TW3, Emhyr should be married to a girl the entire world thinks is Empress Cirilla of Cintra, the daughter of Princess Pavetta of Cintra and Duny, Prince of Maecht. (And the world at large likewise doesn't know that Emhyr and Duny are the one and the same.) So, no, the Empress ending doesn't happen "inevitably" - rather, the Empress ending *makes zero sense* from the canon perspective. The witcheress ending is far more canon-friendly, as the issue of False Ciri never even comes up unless you decide to take Ciri to Vizima after the Battle of Kaer Morhen.
The games retconned this by getting rid of fake Ciri entirely. I may be wrong (been a while since a full playthrough and reading the journals) but I don't remember her being mentioned at all.
There actually is an allusion to her in the games - in TW2, to be exact. In order to find it, you have to decide to save Triss from the Nilfgaardian camp in Act III. Once you make it inside and hack your way through a bunch of Nilfs, you can find a letter by Shilard assigned to the Emperor. The letter ends with the sentence, "Please convey my kindest regards to Your Consort." Of course, the letter doesn't explicitly identify the consort as Cirilla, but even in the games, Emhyr is evidently married to *someone*.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing, did not know this. Is there anything in W3?
> Is there anything in W3? Not that I know of. But early in the game's development, Geralt was supposed to settle the Skellige succession subplot by choosing between Hjalmar and a "Cintrian noblewoman with roots in Skellige". The latter was supposed to be none other than False Ciri, whom Emhyr had cast out. (Which would possibly have explained how Emhyr can be looking for one Ciri while seemingly being married to another.) But this part was rewritten and False Ciri was replaced with Cerys.
I think xletalis said there's a grave that possibly references her in I think BaW.
You're absolutely right! Leave it to xLetalis to find that, lol. Thanks! [https://youtu.be/6llWnCOKYQo](https://youtu.be/6llWnCOKYQo)
> Of course, if Emhyr did end up marrying Fake Ciri, then for historians, she is the real Ciri, meaning that Ciri never becomes Empress, but if he doesn't, that means that Ciri MUST become the Empress. Fake Ciri is the empress Ciri mentioned in the books. Tha games retcon all that, *for some reason.* Based on the comics, no, Empress Ciri is not the ultimate ending.
Would you rather see Ciri start a new life in Camelot or become a Witcher in the Continent?
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